Charminar in Hyderabad

 We visited Charminar yesterday. Its one of the most famous structures in Hyderabad.  Its a four pillar/tower structure that was built in 1591 by Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah, the fifth sultan of the Qutub Shahi dynasty of India. I realized I don't have an actual picture of the outside of it, but you can find it online easily.  Below are pictures of the inside. 

One of the arches. 

View of the inside of the from the ground. 

View across the inside from where you can climb up and walk around. 

I have read a few stories about why the sultan built Charminar. One was to honor his wife and another was to fulfill a promise made when praying to end a plague that was revenging the City.  There is a also rumor that he built a tunnel from here to Golconda fort, that would enable him to escape the fort if it was attacked. We heard that both here and at Golconda fort, although I have read they don't know where the tunnel is. 

The towers are almost 50 meters high and there are a 149 circular steps in each that can be climbed to read the viewing area at the top of the square structure.  We climbed them, with five adults and three kids ages 7, 6 and 3.  The steps were a little nerve racking on the way down. No railings!

The four sides of Charminar open into difference plazas that are bustling with activity. There is a road around the actual Charminar square.   Off to one side is a very large mosque.  In other directions you can see Golconda fort and Falaknuma Place both up on hills in the distance.  

Looking west from Charminar, this is the Laad Bazaar (talked about later in post).

A camel, because you just see some crazy things!

Mosque next to Charminar

Looking South from Charminar on the hill in the distance is Falaknuma Palace.   Look at the traffic, this is apparently before its busy!

We went with a friend who grew up and currently lives in Hyderabad and she advised that we should go before lunch (which by the way is late at like 2 pm) because it will be less crowded. HAHAHAHAHA Okay it might have been less crowded but less crowded still means dodging rickshaws, motorcycles, vendors and cards across three lanes (not defined lanes) of traffic to get into the square.  This was my parents first real adventure with the traffic, and to be honest we hadn't seen this much traffic in most of our visit.  Charminar is located in the old city portion of Hyderabad, which is even more chaotic then where we are staying. 

Snack time

So we walked through the Laad bazaar while we were in that area.  Did some shopping for things to take back home.  Our friend did the negotiating, made sure the price was fair, then we paid. Followed by a great Indian lunch and ice cream.